Legend of the Warriors: Mapleshade's Mask
by gamer4
Summary: When a mysterious stranger comes through the clans, offering strange things called masks, only Lionblaze is interested. When Lionblaze goes to find the stranger, he meets with a terrible fate when he is thrown into an alternate version of the clans doomed to die in 3 days. With the stranger's help, can he save the world and return home before time runs out?
1. The Happy Mask Salescat

Gamer4 in. Well, as you could probably tell, this is a retelling of the game _Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask _in the world of _Warriors._ (Haven't I said something like this before?) Though Majora's Mask is one of the lesser-known and less-popular games in the Zelda series, it does have quite a few devoted fans, including myself. (After Twilight Princess, it's my favorite in the series.) So, I decided to give it a tribute that just about anyone who reads my stories could probably foresee: novelize it in another fandom. In this case, as I've said, and as you could probably tell, it's Warriors. I hope you'll enjoy.

Disclaimer: I'll say it for you one time, and one time only: I don't own either Warriors or Majora's Mask. Warriors belongs to Erin Hunter, and Majora's Mask belongs to Nintendo.

Legend of the Warriors: Mapleshade's Mask

Prologue

The Happy Mask Salescat

It was a bright day. The sun shone over the forest below, reflecting off of the lake in the center. It seemed a normal day. Then again, it always does when strange things happen.

In the forest nearby the lake, there was a clearing. In the middle of this clearing, something strange was occurring. Any onlooker wouldn't be able to say exactly what it was that was so strange, only that something wasn't right. If an observer was standing in the center of the clearing, they might say that they felt an odd breeze, though the air was entirely still that day. The air around that one spot, however, wasn't. It seemed to be swirling around, pushing fallen leaves away from the spot. Any observer's next thought might be that they could see a vague outline in the clearing's middle. As time passed, the outline seemed to become more and more solid, until the air once again stood still, and the outline had taken on a full form.

In the center of the clearing stood a cat. Even discounting the fact that cats didn't usually appear out of thin air, the cat was strange. He was tall and slender. His eyes, as the gazed around at his surroundings, were narrowed so much that it was hard to tell that they were open at all. A wide grin seemed permanently stuck to his face. His pelt was a color not normally seen on a cat, and most would say that it was impossible for a cat to be colored that way. Yet, nevertheless, his pelt was a deep purple, with a couple very thin orange stripes running down his sides.

However, the strangest feature of this cat was not his eyes, grin, or even his oddly-colored pelt. It was the bag that he carried. The bag was very large, comparable to a bag a twoleg might take with them on a camping trip. Odd enough as it was that a cat would carry a bag at all, it seemed too heavy for any cat to willingly carry for too long. Inside, one would see that it was stuffed full of masks of varying size and shape.

The odd cat stood in the clearing, gazing happily around, taking in his surroundings. Finally, he hoisted the bag onto his shoulders and left the clearing, heading deeper into the forest, bent over slightly, likely from the bag's weight. As he headed through the forest, he hummed a cheery tune to himself.

He had been walking for a few minutes when he happened upon a small silvery-white she-cat stalking through the forest. She looked up, shocked at the sight of him. "Hello!" he said brightly to her. "What are you doing in the forest today?"

"I'm... I'm hunting," she stammered, apparently off-put by his strange appearance. "Wh- who are you?"

"I am a simple traveler, my fine she-cat," he said. "I travel the land, spreading happiness with my masks!"

"Masks?" the she-cat asked, confused. "What are those?"

"They are truly wonderful things," he answered. "I'm sure they may bring you happiness. May I ask your name?"

"I'm Ivypaw, an apprentice of Thunderclan," the she-cat said, straightening up at the last words.

"Thunder_clan?" _the strange cat asked, excitement and anticipation entering his voice. "I'm certain that there are cats in your clan that would be interested in these masks. Could you lead me to your clan?"

XXXX

Not that long after this, the strange cat found himself being led into a gorge. Looking around, his smile brightened even further. Various cats were emerging from dens to see their visitor. On top of a rock in the center of the camp, a ginger tom was conversing with a dark brown tabby; both turned to look at him as he strode in. "Who's this, Ivypaw?" the dark tabby asked.

"I found him in the forest," Ivypaw answered. "He asked to be taken to camp."

"Who are you?" the ginger tom asked of the stranger.

"Names are not important," the stranger said. "However, there are those that call me the Happy Mask Salescat."

There was some muttering around the gorge. One cat, another dark brown tabby, snorted. "The _Happy Mask Salescat?" _he muttered. "What kind of a name is that?"

"They call me that because I travel the world, searching for cats to spread happiness to, through my masks."

"Masks?" the ginger tom asked.

"Am I to assume that I speak to the leader of this fine group of cats?" the Salescat asked of him.

"I'm Firestar, leader of Thunderclan," the ginger tom said. "What are masks?"

"Well, they are things that you can use to hide your face!" the Salescat said with almost unreasonable enthusiasm. As he spoke, he slipped the bag off of his back, and turned to rummage through it. There was some dark muttering around the gorge about how this strange cat was most likely a kittypet come to take some shelter and food for the night. Finally, the Salescat withdrew from the bag, and turned to face the clan, and on his face was another face, one that seemed catlike, but was somehow wrong: the fur was yellow, with high ears that were tipped with black. Several of the onlookers drew back in shock. The Salescat, satisfied, removed the mask with an upraised paw. "That is the Keaton mask," he said brightly. "It is very popular with the younger crowd!" Here, he flashed a grin at what he assumed was the nursery, where there were several kits struggling to see the visitor, being held back by their mothers. On another side of the camp, there were two other cats watching, one with gray fur and obviously blind, who looked, for some reason, uneasy. Next to him was a golden tabby whose eyes were sparkling with interest.

"Well, I... appreciate the offer," said Firestar, looking uncertain, "but I don't think we need-"

"Not your style?" the Salescat asked, undeterred. "Perhaps you appreciate a darker style?" With this, he delved once again into the bag, returning the Keaton mask, and coming back out again. This time, the face covering his own seemed to be made of bone. "The Skull mask!" he announced. "I've seen many who appreciate this fine work! A very fine trick to pull on your friends!"

"Well, that's... interesting," Firestar started again, "but I really don't think we-"

"Ah, tricky customers!" the Salescat said. "Don't worry, we'll find one that suits you somewhere! Now, this one," he said, turning back into the bag, "is a piece that I like to call-"

However, when he once again withdrew from the bag, he froze. He wasn't wearing the next mask, merely holding it, and looking at it, as though he couldn't believe what he was seeing. It had a vague heart shape, with large, piercing amber eyes that seemed to gaze into the soul. It had spikes coming from it's head, like horns, and similar spikes on the sides. He quickly returned the mask to the bag, saying, "Never mind that one, that's not important, but _this _one, on the other hand-"

"Enough," the dark tabby next to Firestar said. "We don't need any masks."

"You're welcome to stay the night, if you want," Firestar put in, "but you will have to leave tomorrow, and take your masks with you."

The Salescat stood, hoisting the bag onto his shoulders once again. "Very well," he said. "If you truly don't want any, then I'll leave right now. I don't wish to take advantage of your hospitality. I'm sure there will be other cats that will want these fine masks. Take care." With a slight nod of his head, still with that large smile on his face, the Salescat turned back into the forest, striding away.

XXXX

Night had fallen. Mist curled around the forest as the Salescat strode forward. He had found three more clans of cats: Windclan, Riverclan, and Shadowclan. Riverclan had given him about the same reception as Thunderclan, Shadowclan had been openly hostile, demanding that he leave without hearing about his wares, and Windclan had openly chased him off of their territory. However, he wasn't discouraged yet. He was certain that there were cats somewhere in the clans that would be interested in his wares. That golden tabby from Thunderclan, at least, seemed to have been interested. He wouldn't give up after just one day. No, it was worth a few day's more effort, at least. But for now, he had to find shelter for the night.

Suddenly, he felt eyes on his back. He turned to see a small, strange-looking cat standing there. It seemed to be made out of straw. Behind it were two strange orbs of light, floating along with wings. To any other cat, this would be a strange sight, but the Salescat had traveled far and wide, and had seen many strange things. This cat and those spheres of light were nowhere near the strangest things he'd seen before. One light was bright yellow, the other an even deeper purple than his own pelt.

"Forgive me if I'm mistaken," he said, gazing at them, "but you are a skull child with a couple of fairies, are you not?"

"You... know about us?" the Skull Child said, gazing up at him.

"You? I wouldn't say I know about _you, _though I have met with your kind before. I don't suppose you would be interested in a mask?"

"A mask?" the Skull Child asked, gazing up at him.

"I am the Happy Mask Salescat," the Salescat repeated for the fifth time that day. "I seek to spread happiness through the world with my wares. Would you like a mask?"

"What kinds do you have?" the Skull Child asked.

"Well, this particular one," the Salescat said, reaching into his bag for a random mask, "is-"

Suddenly, he cut himself off. He had, once again, come up with the heart-shaped mask. "Never mind," he said, turning to stuff it back into his bag again. "That mask isn't important."

"What is it?" the Skull Child asked, interested.

"It's not for sale," the Salescat said. "It is a most curious piece called Mapleshade's Mask. It is rumored that this mask has the ability to make whatever its wearer desires a reality."

"What do you want for it?" the Skull Child asked, suddenly sounding eager.

"You do not want this mask," the Salecat said. "Though it is said that it can grant its wearer's desires, it is also said that terrible things will happen if it is used. Even besides all that, it is the rarest piece in my collection. I went to a great amount of trouble to get my paws on it. I couldn't bear to part with it after all that. No, forget about it. However, I have many other masks that may interest you."

"That's the only mask that I'd want," the Skull Child insisted.

"Then we don't have anything else to say," the Salescat said politely. "Take care of yourself."

"Thank you," the Skull Child said, turning away from him.

The Salescat turned and began to set off back into the woods, when suddenly, he felt a great blow from behind. He collapsed, unconscious. Behind him was the Skull Child, who quickly began going through the Salescat's bag.

XXXX

When the Salescat awoke, he immediately feared the worst. He began rummaging through his bag, searching for what he knew wouldn't be there. "No!" he said to himself. "No! No!"

Sure enough, Mapleshade's Mask had disappeared.

_XXXX_

So, what do you guys think? I hope you enjoyed it, but to let me know, please R&R, constructive criticism accepted, as it can make the story better, flames are not appreciated, Gamer4 out.


	2. Down the Rabbit Hole

Gamer4 in. Hey, guys, I'm back. To tell the truth, I would have updated sooner, but I was away for a few days. Luckily, while I was away, I got several more ideas for this story. So, that said, let us begin!

Disclaimer: This is something that really goes without saying.

Chapter I

Down the Rabbit Hole

As the stranger stalked back out of the camp, Lionblaze turned to his brother, Jayfeather. "What do you think of that?"

"He's strange, creepy, and not my problem right now," Jayfeather said, turning away.

"I don't know," Lionblaze said. "Those 'mask' things looked like they might be useful."

"Yeah," Jayfeather snorted. "I can only imagine the myriad uses for pretending to have a skull for a head."

"Not like that!" Lionblaze said. "Look, there's a war coming up between Starclan and the Dark Forest, right?"

"I would appreciate you telling me something I didn't know."

"Well, it's a battle tactic I learned-" for a second, Lionblaze stopped himself. Then, sounding slightly ashamed, he continued. "It's a tactic I learned when I was training in the Dark Forest. They called it war disguising. Basically, you disguise yourself somehow, and it can scare or confuse your enemy. It was a big part of the training. I got a lot of bruises that way. I think masks might be useful for that."

"Forget it," Jayfeather said. "We don't need anything more to do with that cat than we already have. He'll be gone tomorrow, and we can all move on."

"What's with the sudden hostility?"

Lionblaze was confused. Jayfeather wasn't necessarily pleasant to anybody in general, but he'd never known him to act like this before.

"It's just... look, you know how I can read cats, right? Know a bit of what they're feeling, or thinking?"

"Yeah..."

"Well, I couldn't sense anything from that cat. _Nothing. _It's not like there was nothing _to _sense, it's more like... like there was a wall keeping me out. I couldn't tell what he was feeling, or thinking, or anything."

Lionblaze felt a bit of sympathy for his brother. He had always been touchy about his blindness, and always eager to have any use that he could. His power to read other cats with ease had eased the pain of being blind, and he could understand that not being able to read a cat would disturb Jayfeather a bit. But still, he had to understand.

"It's just, if we had some of those masks, I _guarantee _our chances of winning the war would go up. They'd help a lot."

"Trust me, Lionblaze, it's not a good idea. We don't need anything from that cat."

Lionblaze took this as a cue that the discussion was over.

XXXX

Later that night, Lionblaze awoke, peering out of his nest at the gorge outside. He knew what he had to do. No matter what Jayfeather said, those masks had been a great opportunity to increase their chances of defeating the Dark Forest. He had to go after them, even if Jayfeather would disapprove. Of course, he couldn't be sure of where the Salescat had gone after being rejected, but Lionblaze had caught a bit of his scent, and he shouldn't be too hard to track. He quietly stalked outside, heading for the camp entrance.

"Where are you going?" came a quiet voice.

Lionblaze spun around to see Jayfeather not far behind. "I just thought it would be a nice night to get in some hunting," he said lamely.

"You're lying," Jayfeather said. "Not only can I read you, we're _brothers. _Did you really think I didn't know you were going to try, no matter what I said?"

"Well..."

"I guess I can't stop you from going," Jayfeather muttered. "No matter what I do, you'll want to. Just, if you really need to go, take this." With this, Jayfeather put a leg forward, and Lionblaze noticed a strange object wrapped around it. It was small, made of wood, with several holes in it, one at the end of a small tube. It had a ring on it that was wrapped around Jayfeather's leg.

"What is it?" Lionblaze asked.

"I don't know what it's called," Jayfeather admitted. "It's supposed to make music when you blow into the tube end." Very quietly, he demonstrated. "You can even make whole songs out of it.* A Starclan warrior told me to make it a while back. Tonight, he came back and told me that, if I was going to let you go on this little adventure of yours, you'd need it, and you'd be in big trouble if you didn't."

"Why would I need to make songs?"

"I don't know, but somehow, you will!" Jayfeather said, sounding urgent. "I don't exactly know if I'd call this Starclan warrior a friend, but I trust him, and he's never wrong. If he says you'll need it, you'll need it."

Somehow, the urgency in his voice got through to Lionblaze, and he found himself believing him. He didn't know how it would come in useful, or even how it _could, _but he knew that he would need it somehow. "Okay," he said, and Jayfeather gave the object to him, so he could slip it on his leg. "Can you cover for me?"

"I hope you won't be gone too long, but yes, I will," Jayfeather agreed. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Lionblaze said, turning and heading out of the gorge and into the forest.

XXXX

Out in the forest, it didn't take Lionblaze long to find the Happy Mask Salescat's trail. He quickly began to follow it away from the camp. At one point, in a clearing, he found that the trail branched off in two directions. One way led deeper into the forest, while the other began to wind towards the edge of the territory. Figuring he could always come back later, he followed the latter.

After following it for a while, he found that it led to the edge of Windclan territory. His heart sank slightly. If the Salescat had gone to Windclan, he might not be able to find him again. Windclan had been very hostile towards intruders lately, and wouldn't welcome either him or the Salescat. Still, he couldn't give up yet. There was still another trail to follow, back in the forest.

As he turned, he saw that the sun was beginning to rise. Very slightly, true, and only a very dim light was on the forest yet, but still, if he was going to find the Salescat and get some masks from him, he'd better hurry.

As he headed back through the forest towards where the two paths had diverged, he suddenly felt a blow to the back of his head and crashed to the ground, unconscious.

Behind him was the strange cat that appeared to be made of straw, wearing the strange mask that the Salescat had refused to sell to anybody. Behind him were the same two fairies from before. "Got another one!" he laughed cheerfully. "Wonder if _this _one has anything on him. No other cats here seemed to..."

With this, he stepped forward. "Hold on," he said, stopping, as he looked at Lionblaze. "This one..." For a moment, he was silent, then he laughed. "Well, this shouldn't be a problem." He drew closer to the unconscious Lionblaze, and nudged him with a paw. He didn't stir. Here, he noticed the object Jayfeather had given him. Laughing again, he slipped it off of Lionblaze's leg and onto his own, and blew a quiet note into it.

"Oh, an ocarina!" the purple fairy said. "I didn't know they had those over here! Skull Kid, let me touch it! I wanna see it!"

The yellow fairy bumped into him. "You can't! You'd just drop it, and then it might break! And what then, Tael?"

"Aw, come on, Tatl!" 'Tael' whined. "I wanna see, too!"

Suddenly, they heard a groan behind them, and turned to see Lionblaze, his head shaking, rising to his feet. Turning, he saw the Skull Kid with the ocarina. "Give me that, now," he growled. "That's my brother's."

"Give what back?" the Skull Kid quickly said, lightly tossing the ocarina to Tael. "I didn't take anything from you."

"You must think I'm pretty mouse-brained," Lionblaze growled. "I'm a warrior of Thunderclan. Give that back!"

"Yeah, I'd love to," the Skull Kid said, stepping backwards a couple of times. "I really would, _warrior of Thunderclan, _but I just remembered something I forgot back home. 'Kay, thanks, gotta go, bye!" With that, the Skull Kid spun around and ran off through the forest, the fairies flying above him.

Lionblaze wasted no time in sprinting after them. He'd never seen anything like them before, but there would be time to ask questions later, after he'd removed their ears. He still didn't know exactly how the object Jayfeather had given him would come in handy, but he wasn't about to let those crowfood eaters get away with stealing from a warrior.

To his satisfaction, as he chased after them, he found that they were turning further into the forest. Stupid cats, didn't they realize they were only going further into _his _territory? For a second, he thought he lost them around a patch of trees, but, going around it, he saw the Skull Child's tail disappearing into a tunnel ahead. A bolt of triumph flashed through him. He had them now! The thief was trying to escape into a series of tunnels that ran underneath all the clans. Unfortunately for him, Lionblaze knew those tunnels as well as he knew his own den. Without even stopping to think, he plunged in after him.

He could scent where the thief was running, and he followed him, deeper and deeper into the tunnels. Occasionally, a flash of light would filter in through a crack in the roof, but after a while, they had gone so deep that even that stopped. And still, the thief led him deeper into the earth. Lionblaze began to wonder if the thief even knew where he was going, or if he was just trying to get away. And still, they were going further and further down.

As they passed through a dark cavern with a small crack of light coming from Starclan-alone-knew-where, Lionblaze realized two things: the tunnels must be even bigger than he'd thought, and the thief must know them better than he'd thought. With a flash of disappointment, he realized that they were in a part of the tunnels he'd never been before. What would happen if the thief escaped him entirely? But there was no time to brood: he still had the thief's scent, and he continued his chase.

To his astonishment, the tunnels continued to slope downwards. How deep could the tunnels go? However, soon enough , the tunnel began to level out, so he was instead sprinting across flat ground. Suddenly, the thief's scent trail ended. Lionblaze didn't have long to find out the cause: just ahead of him was an underground cliff. He quickly dug his claws into the ground, struggling to stop himself from going over, but the dirt was soft, and it was useless: he slid right over the edge.

As he fell down, Lionblaze looked around, and felt further shock. Around him were strange lights. He'd never seen lights like these before: they were yellow and purple, blue and red. Through them, he saw images of strange cats, cats made of rock, or cats that looked like they came from plants, or even _fish. _A spiraling light version of the object Jayfeather had given him flashed by. Suddenly, he felt his fall beginning to slow, and the next thing he knew, he had slammed into the ground. It was very fortunate that he'd begun to slow down: where he'd previously expected to die, he was only winded.

Quietly, Lionblaze stood and looked around at his landing place. Above him, he saw no sign of the lights he'd seen on the way down. He seemed to have landed on a large flower, of a type he'd never seen before, in the center of a pool of clear water. Just ahead of him, he saw something that caused him panic.

The thief was just ahead. However, that wasn't the cause for his panic. The thief, Jayfeather's object on his leg, was laying down, clearly relaxed, but what was causing Lionblaze a bit of panic was that the thief was _floating _about two feet above the ground. The eyes of the mask that he was wearing were glowing. "You really are stubborn," he said. "I, the great Skull Kid, must admit that I'm impressed. Applause, applause..."

Despite his fear, Lionblaze felt anger as well. This cat was _mocking _him. "Give it back!" he growled.

"Oh, but it's such a pretty ocarina," the Skull Kid laughed. "No, I think I'd rather keep it."

"An ocarina?" Lionblaze said, confused. Shaking it off, he growled, "You won't. That's my brother's, and you'll give it back right now."

For some reason, this seemed to amuse the Skull Kid even more. His head lifted up and he let out a great laugh. "What's wrong? I only wanted to have a bit of fun."

"Then let's have some," Lionblaze growled, unsheathing his claws. He knew he was safe: this Skull Kid wouldn't be able to beat him.

However, the Skull Kid laughed harder than ever at this. "Oh, come on! You _really _think you can beat me? _Really? _With me as I am now?" With a glance at the fairies, he said, "Guys, I think this mouse-brain needs a bit of a demonstration." Looking back at Lionblaze, the mask the Skull Kid was wearing began to glow bright reds, yellows, and blues, as it shook violently from side to side, in a way that was creepy to observe. Lionblaze felt a sudden pain course through him, and it was a pain beyond anything he'd ever felt. He collapsed under the weight of it. Surely, no cat had ever felt anything like this...

XXXX

_Lionblaze looked up. The cavern had disappeared, as had the pain. Looking around, he could see only darkness. And then, out of nowhere, he was surrounded. There were several cats with leaves growing out of them. Their eyes were narrowed and yellow, and their mouths and noses were one, a single snout beneath their eyes. They were small, with wild, grass-like fur, and angrily circling around him. He turned and began to run. He managed to break free of them, and found himself back in darkness, still running, desperate to find a light. Looking behind him, he saw that all the plant-cats had disappeared. However, as he watched, another one appeared, much larger than the ones from before. It towered above him, and though it may have been his own imagination, he thought it was glaring down at him. He turned and began to run, but it easily overtook him. As it bore down upon him, he once again felt an excruciating pain..._

XXXX

Lionblaze opened his eyes. He was back in the cavern with the Skull Kid. "What... what did you do..." he choked out, still shaking from the pain. He was surprised to hear that his voice, while it still sounded like his, sounded hoarse and lighter than he was used to. Struggling forward, he found himself looking down into the pool, and felt a thrill of horror run through him.

The reflection looking out of the pool was a cat that was both familiar and foreign. It looked like him, but he only knew it was him because there was no one else it could be. The cat resembled the cats that had appeared to circle around him before. Leaves grew out of his head, his eyes were simple yellow shapes, and his nose and mouth had been merged into one snout–like hole in his face. He let out a scream of terror.

As he screamed, the Skull Kid laughed again, throwing himself onto his back, though he remained two feet over the ground. "Now _there's_ a good look for you!" he choked out. "Why don't you just stay here, looking that way, forever!" As he laughed, he floated backwards towards a tunnel leading out of the cave. The purple fairy followed after him. Lionblaze sprinted forward- he didn't know how, but he _had _to get the Skull Kid to undo this- but the yellow fairy slammed into him, knocking him over, keeping him back. However, the Skull Kid didn't seem to have noticed this. He continued floating back into the tunnel. As he did, the purple fairy turned and saw that the yellow fairy wasn't with them. "Sis!" he cried out, just as a large slab of stone blocked the entrance to the tunnel.

The yellow fairy turned, and let out a panicked shriek. "Tael!" she called out. "Skull Kid! Let me in!" She shot forward at the slab, ramming against it a couple times, but for all the good it did, she might as well have thrown a pebble at it. "Don't leave me..." she said quietly. For a moment, there was silence, but then she turned on Lionblaze, who was still behind her. "YOU!" she shouted. "If I wasn't dealing with you, I wouldn't have gotten separated from them! So now it's _your _job to fix it! Don't just lay down there, _deku cat, _get up and do something!"

"What _are _you?" Lionblaze asked, staring at her, confused even through a haze of fear.

"I'm a _fairy, _you mouse-brain, and I need your help! Get up and do something! The Skull Kid needs _both _of us!"

"If he needs you, then how can I help him by giving you back to him?" Lionblaze asked, trying to growl, though it didn't work as well with a snout as it had when he was a normal cat.

"You don't understand!" she said, sounding like she was near a panic attack. "He mostly just pranks people, like a regular kit, but we kept him from doing anything _too _bad!"

"And you don't think _this _is bad?" Lionblaze said, getting to his feet. "Look what he did to me!"

"I'm sorry, I think he thought it wouldn't be too bad, but if we find him, maybe I can convince him to turn you back! Please, I need your help!"

Lionblaze weighed his options. He could either reject her, and attempt to find a way back up to the clans, where, even assuming he succeeded, he would be a freak misfit due to what the Skull Kid had done to him. Really, even if this fairy was lying, he didn't have much to lose. "Okay," he sighed. "I'll help."

"Good!" the fairy said. "Now, I just need you to open that door over there!"

"How can I do that?" Lionblaze asked, looking up at the huge slab of stone.

"Well, you just walk up to it, don't you? Really, how much of a mouse-brain _are _you?"

"I don't have these things back at home," Lionblaze said.

"You don't-" the fairy said, but she quickly stopped herself. "Never mind, just open the door!"

Lionblaze tentatively approached the stone slab, and, to his amazement, it lifted up, and disappeared as it slid upwards. He stepped over the boundary, the fairy following him, and the slab immediately reappeared behind him, slamming and blocking the way back. On the other side was another downward-sloping tunnel.

Continuing down the path, he saw that it eventually opened up into yet another large cavern, with two cliffs on it: the one he was standing on, and one on the opposite side of a vast chasm. On both edges, there was a flower not unlike the ones he'd just landed on.

"Hey, wait for me!" came a voice, and Lionblaze looked back, realizing he'd left the fairy behind. "Look..." she said as she approached him. "That stuff back there... I... apologize. Yeah. Sorry. So... um... take me with you! Like I said, I know where the Skull Kid is probably going, and he'll probably listen to me. I'll take you to him."

"Do I really have a choice?" Lionblaze sighed.

"Nope!" the fairy said. "Anyways, I guess I should introduce myself. The name's Tatl. And who are you?"

"Lionblaze," Lionblaze muttered.

"Okay, Lionblaze, I've got to warn you about something. To find the Skull Kid, we're going to have to go to a place called Termina. You know your clans, right?"

"No, I was only born and raised in them," Lionblaze snarled.

"Right, right. Anyways, Termina is a place like your clans, but they're a little different. You might see some familiar faces, but remember: they _aren't _the cats you knew back there, alright?"

"Whatever."

"Good. Now that that's settled, you see that flower over there?"

Lionblaze looked at the flower. "What about it?"

"That's a deku flower. When a deku scrub- that's what the Skull Kid turned you into- steps onto a deku flower, they can use it. Give it a shot, why don't you?"

"Okay," Lionblaze muttered. He stepped towards the flower. As soon as one paw made contact with it, he found himself being sucked forwards. He let out a yelp of surprise as he stumbled forward into it. After a moment, he reappeared, shooting out of the flower at high speed. After a second of shooting upwards through the air, he found himself going back down. However, he wasn't going down as fast as he'd normally expect. He found himself going down over the other cliff. Upon landing, he immediately stepped away from the deku flower on the other side. As Tatl followed him over, he could hear her chortling.

"Nice example," he growled. "Why couldn't you have just explained that?"

"What, and ruin the surprise?" Tatl laughed. "Anyways, as you've probably guessed, I'm actually from Termina, so if you need to know anything, just ask."

"What's that?" Lionblaze asked, looking at a strange tree on the cliff. It was deformed, leafless, and small. It had a couple of deku-like eyes and a snout.

"It looks like a dead deku scrub," Tatl said, sounding suddenly subdued. "It looks sad. I wonder what happened to it..."

Lionblaze, however, recognized it, vaguely. In the same way that he had recognized himself in his deku form, he recognized a cat from back in the clans that this dead scrub resembled. "It looks like... Breezepelt..." he said.

For a moment, they looked at it. Finally, Lionblaze said, "We need to go. Which way is forward?"

"This way," Tatl said, leading him into another tunnel.

As Lionblaze entered this next tunnel, he stared at it in shock. It resembled a twoleg-style tunnel, except that it was twisted: as the tunnel progressed, the floor he stood on twisted to become the ceiling, and the ceiling became the floor. "What is this?"

"This is the way to Termina," Tatl said. "It's alright, just go through."

Lionblaze stepped out into the tunnel, and, to his amazement, found that he could walk along the floor the whole way, even as it twisted to become the ceiling. On the other side, he looked back, seeing the cave he'd just been in, except it was upside down. Looking forward, he saw a strange-looking cave ahead of him. There was no turning back now. He held his breath and stepped into the cave to Termina.

_XXXX_

And that's all for now. Thanks to anyone who's reading, please R&R, constructive criticism welcome with open arms for its ability to help improve the story, flames rejected, Gamer4 out.


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